Movies
Overlook Film Festival ’19 Recap: Ghosts, Movies, and “Paperbacks from Hell”
The third annual Overlook Film Festival has wrapped up in New Orleans, Louisiana, bringing to a close another year of genre films, immersive experiences, virtual reality offerings, podcast recordings, and so much more, making for a customizable experience designed solely for the horror fan. That it’s set in the thick of one of America’s most haunted cities means that the potential for horror experiences extends beyond the festival, too. This recap gives just a glimpse of the atmosphere provided by the team behind the Overlook Film Festival.
Ghost Tours
New Orleans has no shortage of voodoo, ghost, vampire, and swamp tours available to brave souls who converge into the French Quarter. Two particular tour companies were community supporters and sponsors of the festival. Overlook offered the press an opportunity to take a morning ghost tour with Haunted History Tours, one that took us to key stops in the French Quarter while detailing historical yet graphic accounts of death and murder that occurred over the centuries. From a hotel that was once a hospital during the Civil War, where many limbs were gruesomely amputated, to the home of sadistic slave killer Delphine LaLaurie- you don’t have to be a believer in ghosts to enjoy these tours. Just a fan of the macabre.
Daniel Isn’t Real
Adam Egypt Mortimer’s sophomore feature made its world premiere at SXSW, where Trace called the film “a near-perfect combination of body horror, cosmic horror and psychological horror that gets under your skin” in his review. His assessment of the production design and the performances are all spot on; Daniel Isn’t Real takes the imaginary friend concept to some truly unexpected and nightmarish places. Patrick Schwarzenegger is great as the amiable yet menacing Daniel, but the film belongs to Miles Robbins as lead protagonist Luke, the man unsure if he’s coping with mental illness or something more. An abrupt and choppy montage in the beginning makes for a confusing entry into the mesmerizing world, and the depictions of mental illness might ruffle some feathers, but Mortimer’s second feature has a lot to offer. It’s a stunning mindbender in the best way. Someone needs to snatch this up for distribution asap.
The Lodge
The closing night film of the fest, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s second feature packed the theater to capacity in short order thanks to the buzz from Sundance. Our own Meredith said the film “is crafted for utmost discomfort, making for a relentless onslaught of unease,” in her review. It’s true. Fiala and Franz present an oppressive, bleak story from the outset and only coils the dread tighter as it continues. There are no twists here; the directors lay out exactly what’s going to happen ahead of time, making the journey that much more uncomfortable and haunting. The Lodge is a vicious, mean spirited film that’s sure to leave a mark. It’s hardly the scariest film ever made, but it is one that’s so heavy and bleak that it’ll linger in your mind long after. And Riley Keough is a revelation. Luckily NEON will be releasing this one in the fall.
Paperbacks from Hell II: Think of the Children
Author and screenwriter Grady Hendrix (We Sold Our Souls, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Mohawk) also happens to be one hell of an orator. His live show based on his book Paperbacks from Hell has played from London to L.A., and told of the rise and fall of horror paperbacks in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with the dramatic flair and addictive sense of humor that’s pure Hendrix. The Overlook premiered his work-in-progress follow-up, which chronicled the roots of teen fiction all the way through the end of teen fiction thanks to Harry Potter. If you think that sounds dull, you don’t remember teen fiction. It’s far more bizarre than you could ever remember, and, thanks to Hendrix, a lot funnier. It builds toward one captivating finale in which Hendrix invokes the holy spirit of teen horror that is Christopher Pike, and the entire audience was throwing their hands up in praise- all hail Hendrix and this glorious highlight of the fest.
What’s that? Another EIGHT new horror movies are releasing this week?! The fresh horrors on tap include a prequel to a box office hit, a violent thriller produced by Sam Raimi, the feature debut of a horror master’s daughter, and a skin-crawling nightmare filled with spiders.
Here’s all the new horror releasing April 22, 2024 – April 28, 2024!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
First up we have a TV series rather than a movie, but we wanted to remind you that Prime Video’s “Them: The Scare,” the second season of the anthology series, premieres on April 25.
The first season of “Them” (now retroactively dubbed “Covenant”) debuted back in 2021, and this second installment of the anthology series will consist of eight episodes.
“Them: The Scare” will once again be set in Los Angeles…
The story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor’s edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer.
But as she draws closer to the truth, something malevolent grips her and her family.
The series cast includes Deborah Ayorinde as “Detective Dawn Reeve,” Pam Grier as “Athena,” and Grammy-nominated musician and actor Luke James as “Edmund Gaines.”
The daughter of horror master David Cronenberg, Caitlin Cronenberg is making her own mark in the genre filmmaking space with Humane, only in theaters on Friday, April 26.
The film is described as “a dystopian satire taking place over a single day, months after a global ecological collapse has forced world leaders to take extreme measures to reduce the earth’s population.”
“In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman has invited his grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.”
Jay Baruchel (This Is The End), Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek), Peter Gallagher (Grace and Frankie), Sebastian Chacon (Emergency), Alanna Bale (Sort Of, Cardinal) and Sirena Gulamgaus (Transplant) star in Caitlin Cronenberg’s Humane.
Sébastien Vaniček has been hired to direct the next installment in the Evil Dead film franchise, but first we need to experience the film that landed him the hot directing gig in the first place. It’s a spider horror movie titled Infested (Vermines), and it hits Shudder on April 26.
Watch the creepy, crawly trailer for Infested below, which looks a bit like Evil Dead Rise… with spiders. It’s already easy to see why Vaniček was chosen to direct an Evil Dead movie!
In the horror film, “Kaleb is about to turn 30 and has never been lonelier. He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”
Théo Christine (“Suprêmes”), Finnegan Oldfield (“Final Cut”), Jérôme Niel (“Smoking Causes Coughing”), Sofia Lesaffre (“Les Misérables”) and Lisa Nyarko star.
Described as a heart pounding thriller set in the future, Jennifer Hudson and Milla Jovovich lead the cast of Breathe, coming to theaters and Digital on Friday, April 26.
In the film, “After Earth is left uninhabitable due to lack of oxygen, a mother Maya (Hudson) and her daughter Zora (Wallis) are forced to live underground, with short trips to the surface only made possible by a coveted state of the art oxygen suit made by Maya’s husband, Darius, whom she presumes to be dead. When a mysterious couple arrives claiming to know Darius and his fate, Maya tentatively agrees to let them into their bunker but these visitors are not who they claim to be ensuing in mother and daughter fighting for survival.”
Stefon Bristol directed Breathe, written by Doug Simon. The impressive cast also includes Quvenzhané Wallis and Raúl Castillo with Common and Sam Worthington.
Bill Skarsgård takes on the role of a deaf-mute action hero in Boy Kills World, a one-of-a-kind action spectacle set in a dystopian fever dream reality. The film comes from producers Sam Raimi and Roy Lee, and while not a horror movie, it’s a violent thriller all the same. Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions will release Boy Kills World into theaters this Friday.
Moritz Mohr directed Boy Kills World, which was written by Arend Remmers (Sløborn) and Tyler Burton Smith (Kung Fury: The Movie).
In Boy Kills World, “Boy (Bill Skarsgård) is a deaf-mute with a vibrant imagination. When his family is murdered, Boy escapes to the jungle and is trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish imagination and become an instrument of death.”
The cast also includes Happy Death Day star Jessica Rothe, Yayan Ruhian (John Wick 3, The Raid: Redemption), Andrew Koji (Warrior, Snake Eyes), Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter Two), Famke Janssen (The Postcard Killings), Sharlto Copley (District 9), Michelle Dockery (“Downton Abbey”), Brett Gelman (Stranger Things), Quinn Copeland (Peacock’s Punky Brewster), and twins Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti (Big Little Lies).
Indonesian filmmaker Kimo Stamboel (Macabre, Headshot, The Queen of Black Magic) is back with MD Pictures’ Badarawuhi Di Desa Penari (aka Dancing Village: The Curse Begins), a prequel to the Indonesian hit movie KKN Curse Of The Dancing Village.
Lionsgate releases Dancing Village: The Curse Begins in select theaters on April 26.
In the horror prequel, “a shaman instructs Mila to return a mystical bracelet, the Kawaturih, to the ‘Dancing Village,’ a remote site on the easternmost tip of Java Island. Joined by her cousin, Yuda, and his friends Jito and Arya, Mila arrives on the island only to discover that the village elder has passed away, and that the new guardian, Mbah Buyut, isn’t present. Various strange and eerie events occur while awaiting Mbah Buyut’s return, including Mila being visited by Badarawuhi, a mysterious, mythical being who rules the village.
“When she decides to return the Kawaturih without the help of Mgah Buyut, Mila threatens the village’s safety, and she must join a ritual to select the new ‘Dawuh,’ a cursed soul forced to dance for the rest of her life.”
Aulia Sarah, Maudy Effrosina, Jourdy Pranata, Moh. Iqbal Sulaiman, Ardit Erwandha, Claresta Taufan, Diding Boneng, Aming Sugandhi, Dinda Kanyadewi, Pipien Putri, Maryam Supraba, Bimasena, Putri Permata, Baiq Vania Estiningtyas Sagita, and Baiq Nathania Elvaretta star.
KKN Curse Of The Dancing Village was the highest grossing film in Indonesian box office history when initially released in 2022. Its prequel is the first film made for IMAX movie ever produced in Southeast Asia and in 2024, it will be one of only five films made for IMAX productions worldwide.
While you wait for Cinderella’s Curse, another Cinderella-based horror movie is beating that movie to the punch. It’s titled Cinderella’s Revenge, coming to theaters April 26.
The Wrap recently reported, “The film stars Lauren Staerck as the famed young lady who finds freedom from her wicked stepmother with the help of her fairy godmother. Only this time, instead of sending her to a ball to find her prince, the godmother (Natasha Henstridge) helps Cinderella unleash a plan of bloody vengeance.”
Stephanie Lodge, Beatrice Fletcher, Megan Purvis and Darrell Griggs also star.
“I’m so excited for audiences to see this newly imagined horror version of Cinderella in theaters. The picture is scary and fun at the same time,” said producer Mark L. Lester.
In the wake of her return in last year’s box office hit Saw X, horror icon Shawnee Smith is back in Vertical’s horror movie Bloodline Killer, hitting select theaters & VOD on April 26.
Directed by Ante Novakovic, Bloodline Killer is being described by Vertical as “a terrifying horror-thriller that follows Moira Cole who endeavors to rebuild her shattered life after the murder of her family at the hands of her deranged and obsessed cousin.”
The cast also includes Taryn Manning, Drew Moerlein, James Gaudioso, Montanna Gillis, Kresh Novakovic, Adam Shippey, Anthony Gaudioso with Bruce Dern and Tyrese Gibson.
Tubi has been ramping up their Tubi Original horror movies in the last several months, and the latest one is headed to the streaming service on Friday. It’s titled This Never Happened.
In the film from director Ted Campbell, “While staying at her boyfriend’s childhood home with him and his friends, a young woman experiences terrifying visions of a violent spirit.”
María José De La Cruz, Javier Dulzaides, Conny Cambambia, Juana Serrano, and Gonzalo Zulueta star in the Tubi Original movie. You can watch the trailer down below.
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